Comments on: Breaking News: The Great Ice Age of 2008 is finally over — next stop Venus!

By: RodD

RodD — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:11:42 +0000

Where did you get your data from to confidently say that the last two month are showing a warming trend when physical evidence shows otherwise?

By: David

David — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:06:12 +0000

Er you say we will end up like Venus? This is wrong unless you are exagerating! To say we will have global warming is one thing, but to try to say that Earth will become like Venus is totally at odds with thinking. In fact there is a greater chance of a snowball earth statistically than a Venus earth. Let us recall that Earth has been much hotter in MOSt of its past and yet no venus climate ever occured. Indeed once, Earth’s temps hit 50C on average, yet again no venus climate occured so we can be sure that we are safe from this outcome.
It would thus make more sense to prepare your kids for an ice age then a venus age if you look at it statistically.

By: Earl Killian

Earl Killian — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:01:04 +0000

Laura,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles

By: Laura

Laura — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:21:18 +0000

P.S. The difference in the earth’s distance from the sun when it is fartherest away and at its closest, BTW, is aprx. 4.4 million km.

Which raises another observation: in an elliptical orbit, there are two points at the end of the ellipse, as cited above, not just one.

No flames intended. All I am saying is that this is all I know about a cycle in reference to the earth’s orbit. I don’t know anything about a 100,000 year orbit and I would like to find out more about it.

By: Laura

Laura — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:17:19 +0000

I don’t understand Darryl’s reference to a “100,000 year cycle” of the sun. One rotation around the earth’s axis = one solar day. One revolution of the earth around the sun, which completes the earths entire orbit around the sun, = one solar year.

Although the earth’s orbit around the sun is slightly eliptical, it is also close to being a perfect circle. The earth at its fartherest point away from the sun takes place on July 4th. (Interesting coicidence, isn’t it?) That point is called “aphelion.”

The point at which the earth is closest to the sun takes place on January 3rd. That point is called “perihelion.”

You can check this website for a simple explanation of the above.

http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/6h.html

The only other “cycle” in relation to the earth and the sun that I know of is the precessional, in which the point of the earth’s axis traces a circle against the fixed stars in the background. (Along with eventually changing the North star, and moving the location of the equinoxes slightly every year.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession_(astronomy)

By: rpauli

rpauli — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:28:35 +0000

Nice Poetic hyperbole:

“At this rate I’m afraid, we have only a couple of decades before the Earth becomes another Venus.”

I wish there was more than this, the rate of inevitable change is a hugely important topic.

Anyone know of a site that may offer model and scenarios updates?

By: mark

mark — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:03:25 +0000

@ Darryl –

I’ve never heard this theory. Could you please provide a source?

By: Darryl

Darryl — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:26:18 +0000

Actually, the pattern of hotter summers and cooler winters should become more apparent as the eliptical orbit of the earth becomes elongated on its 100,000 year cycle. Eventually the amount of time spent in the farthest distances from the sun (ie winters) will become longer than the amount of time in the summer. This pattern at first will produce an effect where it seems that summers are way to hot, but soon the length of the winter will be so long that even the brief warm up in the summer won’t be enough to overcome the ice build up. Thus an ige age.

Look at today, in the beginning of August there is a cold front that will reach all the way to the gulf of mexico. This has been happening for most of the summer. Winter weather patterns are setting up in mid summer. So even though its hotter than normal, the earth is changing into a winter pattern earlier and earlier each year, eventually the summer pattern will dissapear and you will have cold air from the north reaching all the way to the gulf all year round. The question is, how much time before we reach that. Good luck getting a straight answer from Noaa.

By: Nylo

Nylo — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:44:48 +0000

The world does not have food problems but feeding problems because of the fantastic idea of the biofuels, which uses the food for something different from feeding. Don’t YOU read the news? The mediterranean may be drying up, yes, but food productivity has not ever stopped increasing. And there is no proof that the drying is a result of the global warming, no matter what the alarmists want to claim, they have no proof. I would rather blame the increasing population, which increases the water consumption from the reservoirs, and because of that they are running out of it.

In Spain there’s an interesting grant from the UE of 45€ for every Ha that you cultivate for biofuels, and also, because a 10% of every fuel will have to be biofuel in a short time, farmers are increasing the price of their products because they know that petrol companies are going to be forced to buy them anyway. And they will sell them to the petrol companies unless the people who want the products for eating are willing to pay as much. THAT is what increases the price of the products. Not shortage. There are lots of corn out there, if you want to pay for it.

It’s fantastic when idealists with no idea of the real issues make it to the government and mess up with the free market.

By: David B. Benson

David B. Benson — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:26:02 +0000

Nylo — The farmers will disagree with you. The entire Mediterrean basin is drying up, making the practice of agriculture difficult. If global warming is allowed to continue, the American mid-west will eventually become like Australia, unable to grow (much) wheat.

Have you noticed in the news that the world is running out of food? The situatiion will become (slowly) worse.